MEMPHIS, Tenn. — They say April showers brings May flowers.
Our friends over at NextDoor reached out to me with quite the showcase.
It is Spring. Flowers have sprung.
Just as fast as they're growing, so has the size of the Cooper-Young Garden Walk.
"It is a fun way to meet neighbors, get inspired. It was our big fundraiser to do beautification projects in the neighborhood," said Kim Halyak, Cooper-Young Garden Walk Founder and Co-Chair.
It grew from 23 gardens five years ago to 80 this year. But the coronavirus presented somewhat of a bud in this year's walk.
"We kept waiting and waiting and waiting and hoping that things would improve. Sometime in February, we realized that it probably wasn't going to," said Halyak. "We had to cancel our walk because of the virus, but we started a virtual garden walk this year. People can go online and see 31 of the gardens and get ideas."
It is quite the seed for a new beginning.
"They're going to see chickens and bee-keeping and growing edibles in front yards. They're going to see formal yards," said Halyak. "People just sent amazing pictures, wonderful garden tips, things that I've learned about that I didn't know."
The virtual tour came with one wildflower in the midst of this pandemic.
"Anybody in Memphis can look at our gardens and they can get inspired," said Halyak. "Even beyond Memphis, we've had visitors from Pennsylvania, California, Chicago, New York. I have been blown away by the visitors who found us somehow and toured our gardens and absolutely love us."
Virtual tours may be included for future tours.
